User Engagement, AFTER THE VISIT

[tangor]

In past years websites were able to generate continued engagement with newsletters and listservs, often with forums hosted on site to expand engagement and return.

Newsletters and Listservs have been hit hard by new standards in email (think DMARC among others) and an growing reliance on virus/email scrubbing softwares either integrated in OS, email softwares, or ISPs. But these still work (if one plays by the new rules). HOWEVER....

Social media is taking over that role, though most times on a third party which is NOT the website itself.

For those that use this kind of personal engagement, what is working best for you?

Do you offer the engagement as part of the user experience, if so, how and...

If you are using social media, what is your return/use of the website as opposed to the sm side?

Additionally, do you see a reduction in interest in this type of engagement by users for what you have to offer? Or does your user base like the personal attention and sign up?

I ask these questions as it does appear that "junk mail", "bulk mail", and the like are getting hammered at all levels of the net structure.

In my case I've seen 15 of 30 newsletters/listserves ranging from 25 to 10 years of age slowly die on the vine over the last 4 years. Of those that remain the engagement (on the broadcast/group style) have seen traffic diminish by 80% (at least!) with that number seen (and known to have) moved to the SM side (where I put it in place). (FB is that side) But there aren't that many "new" users there as without the full-throat website the potential user isn't quite sure what the heck is going on.

Your experiences, if you use these methods, are of great interest to ME. Perhaps others, too. Your thoughts are appreciated.

[keyplyr]

One of the reasons Mobile has taken over IMO is engagement. Not in the historic form, but in the utilitarian.

Mobile is in the hands of most everyone, providing a useful purpose. There's an app for everything. Websites need to act more like apps.

A sucessful site nowadays builds on that and creates the type of content that provides something useful that engages the user and keeps the user on the pages.

That could be shopping for products, a tool that returns information, an activity to connect with other users, etc.

The dynamic is that the website is in everyone's hand. The challenge is how to keep it there.

My main site sucessfully accomplishes user engagement by supplying information easily understood in charts and tools. Users stay on my pages and return again & again.

I'm fortunate in that the type of information I supply is timeless and always in demand. This is not the case for many sites.

After the visit, the info supplied keeps the user engaged in the activities associated with the theme of my site, thus the visits continue.

I never send newsletters since I feel they are now associated with spam. Even those with the opt-out feature seem to irritate people. I read their complaints at social media all the time so I have stayed away from them.

I do interact with site visitors on a few of the social media sites. I'm sure others read it and also come to my site because of this.

I publish a monthly events calendar that I spread across social media. This is a little like a newletter I guess.

[keyplyr]

Almost forgot... another method I use for User Engagement, AFTER THE VISIT is...

I have several books I've written (eBooks & real books) that I sell at a few sites. Some of the info in these books gets updated periodically.

Those that purchase these books are issued a username/password that is used to download the updates.

This gets these buyers to come back again and again to check for updates. They've already shown they make purchases so they're the kind of return visitor that has a higher chance of making additional purchases.

Plus they gain entry to a 'members area' where they get free things. This has had its highs and lows, but since Mobile has taken off, so has the return traffic.

[tangor]

I will stress that the mail/newsletter sites I operate are DOUBLE OPT IN (ie, they really have to want it, never placed on it by any interaction other than ASKING TO BE ADDED). In that regard those that play the engagement is solid. However, there's few new uptakes from the site these days.

All points above are illustrative of the gadget in hand scenario and a reaffirmation that the user is a consumer--there are other words but I digress. :)

[engine]

User engagement is really important, and it has to be done, without doubt.

I can give examples of double-opt-in that goes wrong, too: One example is a local restaurant - I want to know their specials in advance, but, for some reason, they are sending too many e-mails. There's no option to receive less frequently, so I unsubscribed. Guess what, the unsubscribe says it's worked, but, I still keep getting the messages. Next time I visit i'll speak to the manager.

What's the best frequency for user engagement? With social media it seems that all the time is acceptable, but with e-mail it really does depend upon the user, imho.